Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Ex - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Jewish elementary school students (she spoke at the school on Sunday before giving a lecture at the ashigton Sixth & I Historic Synagogue) that the Bush administration did not use illegal interrogation tactics. 11 year Misha Lerner, a fourth-grader at the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation's Capital,asked Rice what she thought about the Obama administration's remarks on interrogation methods authorized by its predecessors.

A flustered Rice said she didn't want to criticize President Barack Obama. She added that the President assured his administration that "we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally."

"I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country," she said. "Even under those most difficult circumstances, the president was not prepared to do something illegal, and I hope people understand that we were trying to protect the country."

Last week the Ex Secretary of State told Stanford University students that "we did not torture anyone."

What is the sex offenders register?The sex offenders register contains the details of anyone convicted, cautioned or released from prison for sexual offence against children or adults since September 1997, when it was set up. The register, which is run by the police, is not retro-active, so does not include anyone convicted before 1997. There are around 29,000 people on the register in the UK.

How do the police know where the sex offenders are?

Under the Sex Offenders Act 1997, as amended by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, all convicted sex offenders must register with the police within three days of their conviction or release from prison. This is monitored by the police, who receive notification from the courts following conviction, and both the prisons and probation service following an offender's release into the community.

Failure to register is an offence which can carry a term of imprisonment. Registrants must inform the police within three days if they change their name or address, and disclose if they are spending seven days or more away from their home. Convicted sex offenders have to register with their local police every year.

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Max Mosley, the media and UK privacy laws What better evening to launch the second edition of Tugendhat and Christie’s The Law of Privacy and the Media than the day on which the European Court of Human Rights handed down its hotly anticipated decision in Mosley v the United Kingdom?

On 10 May, the publishers Oxford University Press must have been slapping themselves on the back for their good timing.

After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress directed the Secret Service to protect the President of the United States. Protection remains a key mission of the United States Secret Service.

AuthorizationToday, the Secret Service is authorized by law to protect: The president, the vice president, (or other individuals next in order of succession to the Office of the President), the president-elect and vice president-elect The immediate families of the above individuals Former presidents and their spouses for their lifetimes, except when the spouse remarries. In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the former president leaves office Children of former presidents until age 16 Visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States, and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election Other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President National Special Security Events, when designated as such by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security